21st - 28th Aug 06

Monday 21st August 06I am still feeling gutted about loosing 3-0 to Portsmouth but still, got to look forward and concentrate on Wednesday`s home game against Everton.

Talking of Everton on Wednesday, Andy Todd is having Saturday`s red card appealed against by the club. We know that Lucas Neill will not be available because of his dismissal but hopefully Todd`s red will be overturned and we can use him Wednesday.

It`s good to see that we are still keeping tabs on Andre Ooijer and he seems determined to join us as he is refusing to make himself available for games encase he picks up an injury. Refusing to play though is ruling him out of training as he has been told that he will not be allowed to train until he is willing to play matches. I hope that a fee is agreed soon so that he can start training and playing with us before he starts getting a little rusty. Click Here for Full Article

Last month Frenchman Didier Agathe had a trial with us after his release by Celtic but nothing came of it. He is now on a trial with Aston Villa, under his old Celtic boss Martin O`Neill. Click Here for Full ArticleRyan Nelson is targeting our game against Sheffield United on September 9th as his comeback match. He is still out with his niggling injury which has finally been diagnosed as a torn buttock muscle. I can`t help but laugh at that injury as it is quite funny, but I hope he can firm up those buttocks and get playing soon. Click Here for Full Article

Brad Friedel has been reflecting on Saturday`s defeat to Portsmouth and has urged fans not to get too downbeat about it as there are still thirty seven games left. The game on Wednesday gives an immediate chance to put Saturday`s loss in the past and Friedel hopes that the good home form from last season can be continued as of Wednesday.

Things are not looking good defensively as Hughes has Ryan Nelsen, Zurab Khizanishvili and Dominic Matteo all trying to shake off injuries and now it looks as though Lucas Neill and Andy Todd will be out with suspensions from the Portsmouth game. Hopefully Todd`s red will be overturned so one less missing Wednesday, but defensively will still be short. Hopefully a deal can go through in time for Andre Ooijer but am not sure it will as negotiations are still going on over a fee and also these things take time. Click Here for Full ArticleTuesday 22nd August 06Talks have been continuing with PSV over a deal with Andre Ooijer and as Hughes had hoped, a fee has now been agreed, believed to be in the region of £2.1m. Personal terms will now be negotiated with the player and Ooijer will have to pass the standard medical. Good news but I am sure he will not be available against Everton tomorrow. Click Here for Full Article

Good news with Andy Todd as the appeal against his red card has been won and it has been overturned, making him available for tomorrow. Click Here for Full ArticleWednesday 23rd August 06We have finally secured Andre Ooijer which is a huge boost due to our situation defensively. Will be good to see how he does against Chelsea on Sunday. Will be a hard match for him to start with, but with his experience at the top level I think he will do ok. Click Here for Full Article

I received a little information today about a potential Egyptian signing. He goes by the name of Wael Gomaa and he is supposed to be a top dog out that part of the world. It has not become public news as of yet, but however I got this news from somebody in the know! Click Here for Full ArticleIt was a good feeling waking up knowing that today is a match day. Well the match has been and gone and we drew it 1-1 with Everton. I suppose a draw is still a point, but would`ve liked more after the poor start we got off to against Portsmouth. I see that Hughes was pleased with the draw after the disappointment of being beaten 3-0 and I guess like he said, it was a good performance as we seemed to play as the better team. If only we had held the lead, but good to see Benni get off the mark in the league. Click Here for Full Article

Thursday 24th August 06Ghanaian defender Shilla Illiasu is being trialled by Hughes. He had a good World Cup which has seen a host of clubs take interest in him. Arsenal trialled him so he can`t be all bad I guess. We need a good defence if we want to stand a chance in Europe.We get to find out who we face tomorrow in the UEFA Cup. We have been seeded in the top group so will be good knowing that we will avoid all the bookies favourites.

Friday 25th August 06Benni McCarthy has talked today of the task at hand against Chelsea on Sunday. He will be up against old boss Jose Mourinho who managed him at Porto during the successful years. Benni appears to have nothing but respect for his old boss and recognises it will be a hard game, but obviously hopes for victory which will launch our premiership campaign.

Nicolas Anelka, a target of ours during the summer has joined Bolton for £8 million. But hopefully he won`t haunt us as a target that we missed out on as we have Benni who I am sure will work his magic for us.The 2006/2007 UEFA Cup draw has been done and we have been drawn against Austrian team Salzburg. The first leg will be played away on Thursday 14th September and the Ewood Park leg will take place two weeks later on Thursday 28th.They will be a tough team as they were in the Champions League qualifiers but have dropped to the UEFA after being knocked out during qualifications. Hopefully Nelsen would have met his targeted return date of 9th September against Sheffield United as we could do with having him playing. Click Here for Full Article

Saturday 26th August 06It is a quiet day news wise and the only news I am aware of is that we are being linked with Danny Mills. I don`t know what will come of this. He has had a lot of injury problems but he is a hard worker.Sunday 27th August 06Well we have played reigning champions Chelsea and we did not get the result we were looking for. I guess we can take comfort knowing that we lost to no doubt a quality side. The result was 2-0, but despite loosing, it was not a bad performance. We just did not create enough chances with the possession that we had. Andre Ooijer had a diabolical debut for us. He is a proven quality player, but he looked as though he did not have a clue out on the field at times. I hope it was a one off and he bounces back stronger, as we have enough defensive shortages as it is. Click Here for Full Article

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